Allen Enterprise Masters Championship at Ogston Sailing Club

John and Chris Blundell win the Allen Enterprise Masters at Ogston © Carol Ford

Martin and Abigail Honnor finish 2nd in the Allen Enterprise Masters at Ogston © Carol Ford

On Saturday 10th June, 52 excited sailors turned up for the 2017 Allen Enterprise Masters Championship. The forecast was for a decent breeze and happily this proved to be the case.

Ioan Lavery & Chris Keatley from Penarth YC were very quickly into a good lead in race 1, followed by Andy & Vicky Gomm from Ogston SC, Tim Sadler & Natalie Roach from Yorkshire Dales SC, and Jane & Nick Scutt from Middle Nene SC. Tim/Nat and Andy/Vicky had a battle for most of the race and in doing so were gradually reeling in Ioan/Chris. Eventually Tim/Nat passed then pulled away from Andy/Vicky, but it looked like Ioan/Chris still had a safe lead... Unfortunately for them, after rounding the last mark onto the short beat to the finish, they chose to carry on, and when Tim/Nat arrived at the same mark they got one of Ogston's infamous "righties", and were lifted 20 degrees inside Ioan/Chris and were able to sneak across the line in first place. Andy/Vicky crossed 3rd and were followed by Jane/Nick.

After a great start and some excellent shift work up the first beat, Martin & Abigail Honnor from Ogston SC lead around the first mark of race 2, and not too far behind were Tim/Nat, followed by John and Chris Blundell from Staunton Harold SC and Alan & Matt Johnson from South Caernarvonshire YC. After leading for the whole race, it was Martin/Abi's turn to lose out to Tim/Nat's good fortune (or was it skill again?), with a slight shift and wind filling in from behind on the last run, Tim/Nat rounded the last mark first, and simply (not that simple!) covered Martin/Abi up the last short beat. John/Chris finished 3rd, followed by Alan/Matt.

After the second race, the fleet came ashore for some well earned rest & a bit of lunch. Races 3 & 4 were a bit of a blur, with John/Chris winning them both quite convincingly, to top the overnight leader board on countback. John Woodward & Karen Alexander from South Staffs SC eventually got their fingers out, and finished the day with a 2nd and 3rd, and Martin/Abi and Tim/Nat shared out the remaining 2nd/3rd/4ths. Martin/Abi had a bit of excitement during race 3 (and a need for lots of Duck Tape), after it appeared that Nick Jackson & Becky "I told him to tack" Bradley from Burghfield SC had been watching too much America's Cup racing, and chose to come into the first windward mark on port. Ouch!

Saturday night was tremendous, with the usual "black tie" championship dinner, followed by socialising well into the early hours (and who'd have thought dawn would join in?).

There were a few weary souls rigging their boats on Sunday morning, and the wind gods had decided to crank it up a little. Happy days!

In race 5 the Blundells continued where they left off on Saturday afternoon, again taking a relatively easy win, and again followed by the Honnors. Unfortunately for Tim/Nat, rounding the leeward mark on one of the laps, they had a bit of an issue with a boat coming down the run unexpectedly capsizing straight in front of them, and a big bear away to try and avoid a collision allowed half a dozen boats to pass. By the finish, Ioan/Chris had re-found their mojo, finishing 3rd, and Ann Jackson/Alan Skeens from Burghfield SC closed out the top four.

After race 5, John/Chris were looking strong favourites for the overall win, but a shocking first beat for them in race 6 saw them round the first mark in what must have been double figures, and this gave Martin/Abi and Tim/Nat some hope that the fat lady wasn't quite ready... Despite their performance up the first beat, John/Chris were on fire for the rest of the race and managed to work their way up to 4th. Martin/Abi got their first win of the weekend, followed by Tim/Nat, and Ioan/Chris continued their form from the previous race with another 3rd.

So, game on!

Going into the last race, John/Chris were leading with 10 points, and Martin/Abigail and Tim/Nat were tied on 11 points, setting up what should have been an enthralling, winner takes all finale...

By the first mark, it still looked like it was going to be a 3 way scrap, with all 3 rounding close together, but unfortunately for the spectators, John/Chris quickly hit the front, and although there were times during the race when Martin/Abi closed the gap, their lead remained relatively comfortable for the whole race, giving them a well deserved overall victory.

Sadly for Ioan/Chris their boom exploded (BOOM!) in the last race, and after also retiring in race 4, this dropped them from 4th to 6th overall.

Ioan/Chris's misfortune promoted Ann/Alan to 4th overall, and they were also first lady helm, and first helm over 60.

During his "thank you" speech, John reminded everyone that this is the second time he's won this championship, his first being when he crewed for his brother, Pete, 24 years ago, and John hopes Pete will now stop going on about it.

The fleet would like to thank the sponsors, Allen Brothers, and of course we must say well done to John & Chris for some excellent sailing, and well done and thanks to Ogston Sailing Club and their very efficient Race team and Galley volunteers, for again putting on a brilliant event.

Overall Results:

Next Enterprise Events:

The Allen Enterprise National Championship will be held at Abersoch from 5th to 11th August and online entry is open at www.sailenterprise.co.uk. Enter and pay by 29th June before the entry fee increases.

Also, leading up to the Nationals, there are three more National Circuit events: 17th June at Leigh & Lowton SC, 1st/2nd July at Yorkshire Dales SC and 22nd/23rd July at Tynemouth SC.